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In this book, we analyze the psycho-social consequences faced by Indian American children after exposure to the school textbook discourse on Hinduism and ancient India. We demonstrate that there is an intimate connection—an almost exact correspondence—between James Mill’s colonial-racist discourse (Mill was the head of the British East India Company) and the current school textbook discourse. This racist discourse, camouflaged under the cover of political correctness, produces the same psychological impacts on Indian American children that racism typically causes: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a phenomenon akin to racelessness, where children dissociate from the traditions and culture of their ancestors.


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Caturvyuhas

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

The Bhāgavata and the Pāñcarātra tradition worships Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa. It explains that the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu has four aspects of manifestation:

  1. Para or the supreme - This form manifests Para which is the Supreme. It means it exists in everything.
  2. Vyūha or the emanation - These are four in number and also referred to as caturvyūha
  3. Vibhava or the incarnation - This form represents the incarnations.
  4. Arca or the murti - This form is the descent of the Lord into an after it is ceremonially installed and worshiped in the temples and thereby transforming it into a murti.

Caturvyuhas as Caturmurtis[edit]

The Vyūhas or emanations are four in number and hence also called caturmūrtis. They are:

  1. Vāsudeva - Śrī Kṛṣṇa is Vāsudeva.
  2. Śankarṣaṇa - Śrī Kṛṣṇa's brother Balarāma is Saṅkarṣaṇa.
  3. Pradyumna - Śrī Kṛṣṇa's son is Pradyumna.
  4. Aniruddha - Śrī Kṛṣṇa's grand son is Aniruddha.

Caturvyuhas Symbolically[edit]

Caturvyuhas represent cosmic psychological evolution. It symbolically refers the following:

  1. Vāsudeva represents Citta (mind-stuff).
  2. Saṅkarṣaṇa stands for Ahaṅkāra (egoity)
  3. Pradyumna stands for Buddhi (intellect).
  4. Aniruddha stands for Manas (mind).

Caturvyuhas Iconographically[edit]

Gradually these Vyūhas were increased to twenty-four. Iconographically all these Vyūhas are identical in appearance except for the arrangement of the four emblems. These emblems are:

  1. Śaṅkha
  2. Cakra
  3. Gadā
  4. Padma

The Pāñcarātra theology often adds another aspect of the manifestation which is the Antaryāmin (the indweller). This aspect cannot be represented iconographically.

References[edit]

  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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